Traveling

Palawan - Getting Here and Away

First, you will need to book your international flights to Manila, Philippines. International flights to Cebu are also available. From Manila you will have to travel at least 1 day prior to the expedition to Palawan, we strongly recommend to allow time for flexibility in your travel plans. Flights can be cancelled or Departures of expeditions can be effected by bad weather. We recommend that you have least 2 days in both El nido and Coron.

*Always make sure that you schedule your flight in/out of Manila at least 2 days before/after your expedition. You are required to check-in and attend a group briefing at 17:00h the evening before your departure. Trips arrive in the destination port at approx. 18:00h so onward travel arrangements must be made for the next day at the earliest.

Connection between El Nido and Coron: There are several Bangka ferry companies that services Coron- EL Nido vice versa- 4 - 5 times a week. Bangka ferry can take up to 7-10 hour journey. Booking can be done only when you are in Coron or El Nido. The journey can be slow and rough if the wind is strong.

If you are joining us from Coron, look for a flight to Busuanga Airport (Coron). There are regular flights (3 to 4 times a day) with Cebu Pacific or PAL Express. From Busuanga airport it's a 40 minute transfer ride to Coron town. There are shuttle vans operating outside the terminal and cost P150.00 PHP per person. The Tao Office in Coron is on Don Pedro St., which is in the Centre of town. It’s easy to find us - just ask the drivers for directions.

If your trip ends in Coron, then you will need to book a flight from Busuanga (make a 2 day buffer after your trip). The boat arrives in Coron between 5PM to 6PM which is too late to catch a flight out.

There are many accommodation options in town if you are just staying for one night. If you are staying longer, there are resorts in the islands which will arrange transportation to and from the town. Just inform the resort that you will arrive in Coron with Tao by 6pm at the Tao office if you wish to be picked up. If you are travelling on a Private Expedition then you can arrange to be dropped off directly at certain resorts en-route. This can be arranged when you check-in or register before your expedition starts.

El Nido - Getting Here and Away

There are two options: • DIRECT FLIGHTS TO AND FROM EL NIDO with Island Transvoyager Inc. (air-swift.com) - A 40 seater plane that is difficult to book during holidays. They are available with charter planes from the private airport owned by El Nido Resort. ITI is the company that service the charter. 6,500 to 7,500 pesos per person. Manila to EL Nido to Manila flights - Contact El Nido Boutique and Art Cafe elnidoboutiqueandartcafe.com

• FLY TO PUERTO PRINCESA Puerto Princesa is approximately 250km south of El Nido and requires a 5 to 6 hour van ride or 7 hour public bus ride. CHERRY BUS AND RORO BUS is the name of the company that is most reliable with hourly service from 8am up to 10pm. Vans and buses leave from the bus station in San Jose. Flights to Puerto Princesa: MANILA, CEBU, ILOILO or DAVAO - PUERTO PRINCESA – daily flights from CEBU PACIFIC and PAL EXPRESS MANILA - PUERTO PRINCESA – daily flights from TIGER AIRWAYS and AIR ASIA.

Departure & Arrival Times

First will need to 'check-in' at our office in town of your departure 17:00h the day before you depart. Please read the info in the 'PREPARATIONS' section.

All Expeditions depart/start at 8:30H from: TAO EL NIDO OFFICE: Tao House, Corong Corong. TAO CORON OFFICE: Don Pedro St. Centre of town. * Both of our offices are easy to find and both of the town is not that big that you cannot find us.

For anyone who misses the departure of the expedition due to disrupted travel plans, there is a possibility to catch up with a private boat transfer. Boat hire costs from 5,000 PHP - 10,000 PHP depends on how far you need to travel. This can be arranged by our staff in our office. Please take note of our emergency contact numbers so that you can inform us of changes to your travel plans due to flight delays, cancellations or other travel disruptions. We have the right to cancel your booking if you do not inform us or if you do not show up on the briefing.

For Private Expeditions, we will depart when you and your group are ready. All expeditions usually arrive/end between 17:00H - 18:00H. There will be time for you to transfer to your accommodation before it gets dark if you are staying on the mainland.

If you are staying in an island resort please inform them that you will be travelling with Tao and that you will be arriving in town between 17h and 18h. They will be able to advise you on their transfer policies.

Drop off in resorts

It is difficult for us to drop you off in island resorts if they are out of our route. We can coordinate and meet a service boat of the resort (AL Faro and Sangat in Coron) on our route but you need to inform the hotel and our office upon checking-in.

Guest staying in EL Nido island resorts BEFORE the trip; Miniloc, Lagen, and Pangalusian; should arrange to come to town for the 5pm group briefing a day before your scheduled departure. Also, make sure to be at the port for the 8.30am departure. Guest staying in EL Nido island resorts AFTER the trip; we can coordinate a service boat to meet us to drop you off the El Nido resorts on the last day. Please inform the resort that you will be traveling with Tao Philippines and our office staff upon check-in so that we can arrange this.

Where to stay

We recommend that you research in online forums such as tripadvisor.com or virtualtourist.com for accommodation recommendations. Here you will find other travelers personal reviews and recommendations for places to stay to suit every budget and time scale whether you are looking for a convenient place to stay for a night or a chilled out place on the beach to relax for a week after your expedition with us.

Traveling with Children

Children have an amazing sense of adventure and discovery. We love having them on board, especially when we introduce them to the young villagers who are fascinated by foreign children. However children on a Tao expedition require constant supervision from both the parents and the crew. Unfortunately our Open Expedition are not suitable for children under 14 years old. Children can join Private expeditions. We provide extra crew on trips with children and do not offer discount.

Planning Your Itinerary

The minimum number of days you can join a Tao Expedition is 5 days and 4 nights. This is the ideal amount of time to fully appreciate the island experience that we are offering. Palawan is a remote region to access. 10 days is the number we suggest you to stay in the Palawan including the Tao trip.

Try not to take on too much destination as traveling in the Philippine islands takes time. You don’t want to spend half your trip on a bus or waiting in an airport as most destinations will take a day journey. If you would like to visit several provinces, try to plan to spend a week in each place. This is enough time to take it all in, and at the same time get as much as possible out of your trip.

Spending time in EL NIDO and CORON:

The areas around El Nido and Coron offer plenty of island hopping, diving and exploring activities. Some of these destinations include Coron Island, Big Lagoon, Small Lagoon, Secret Beach etc. Many guests ask whether we will visit these places on the expedition. We specialize in avoiding the tourist crowds, and take you to remote island destinations.

On Open Expeditions, we tend to stay away from these destinations altogether. So if you have few days available on either side of the Tao trip, we recommend that you see these places in smaller island hopping boats available for hire in town.

Our bigger expedition boats can be too large to take to these often crowded areas and we prefer to head straight out into the remote islands where no other tourists go. In a small group/boat (for example), we can take you into the Big lagoon just after sunrise and you will have the place to yourselves before the day-trippers start hording in from 9am onwards. On a Private Expedition you can help plan your route so you can visit the tourist highlights of both towns if you like.

Which Direction is best for Expedition – Coron to EL Nido or EL Nido to Coron –

It does not matter, both are special. From EL Nido going north the underwater gets better and better. From Coron going south, the islands and beaches gets more stunning every destination. Just depends on your travel plans, if you want to relax after the trip then end in EL Nido. If you want to go diving after the trip, then end in Coron.

Catching Up

For anyone who misses the departure of the expedition due to disrupted travel plans, there is a possibility to catch up with a private boat transfer. Boat hire costs from 5,000 PHP - 10,000 PHP depends on how far you need to travel. This can be arranged by our staff in our office. Please take note of our emergency contact numbers so that you can inform us of changes to your travel plans. For Private Expeditions, we will depart when you and your group are ready. All expeditions arrive/end at 17:00H - 18:00H. We arrive at the destination port at about 5:00 PM. There will be time for you to transfer to your accommodation before it gets dark if you are staying on the mainland. If you are staying in an island resort please inform them that you will be travelling with Tao and that you will be arriving in town between 17h and 18h. They will be able to advise you on their transfer policies.